


Precedent

by Chelle1117



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-27
Updated: 2014-07-27
Packaged: 2018-02-10 14:44:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2028954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chelle1117/pseuds/Chelle1117
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The mess hall was alive with chatter in a way it hadn’t ever been before.  John smiled to himself at the charged atmosphere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Precedent

“Sheppard! Have you seen this?”

John smiled behind his Golf Digest. He’d seen it. He’d also been waiting for Rodney to come barging into his quarters with his usual bluster.

He wasn’t disappointed.

Schooling his features, he curled one corner of his magazine down and cocked an eyebrow. “Seen what, McKay?”

Rodney hefted a tablet in one hand and made a triumphant noise. “Oh. Of course you haven’t. I’m surprised you’ve seen anything this early besides the backs of your eyelids, Colonel.” Handing John the tablet to read, Rodney crossed his arms over his chest, smug grin lighting his features. “I knew eventually your closeted country would join the rest of the civilized world.”

John barely glanced at the tablet. “Oh. That.” He picked up his magazine and snapped it open. “Got an email about it months ago. Brass wanted to poll the servicemen.”

“You…” Rodney huffed. “Oh. Well. I guess I’ll just leave you to it, then.”

Rodney sniffed and picked up his tablet. When he got to the door, John said, “Lunch later?”

Sighing, Rodney nodded. “Sure. Mess, 1300?”

John glanced up at him, small smile making the corners of his eyes crinkle. “It’s a date.”

Rodney frowned at him, confused, but gave a nod of acknowledgment.

*****  
The mess hall was alive with chatter in a way it hadn’t ever been before. John smiled to himself at the charged atmosphere.

He ambled over to the serving line, and grabbed his usual lunch, then headed over to the one last empty table over by the windows to wait for Rodney.

Ronon and Teyla came in and he waved them over.

Teyla sat down, her face lit with a smile, though she seemed confused as well. “Good afternoon, John,” she said.

“Teyla. How’s it going?”

“ _It_ is going fine, thank you for asking.” She glanced around the mess hall. “It seems oddly busy in here today.”

“Yeah, Sheppard,” Ronon said. “What’s up?”

John shrugged, and picked up his sandwich. Casually, he said, “The military just got some news, is all.”

Ronon cocked an eyebrow as he and Teyla shared a look.

“News?”

John shrugged. “Something that’s been a long time coming.” He frowned and looked over Ronon’s shoulder to the door. “You guys seen McKay?”

Just then the crowd fell silent and there was the rustle of heads turning toward the entrance. McKay and Zelenka were bickering back and forth, totally oblivious to the sudden silence of the dining room.

John smiled and stood. “Excuse me,guys, I gotta...” he said, and left Teyla and Ronon watching him curiously as he strode over to meet Rodney and Radek.

“Sheppard,” Rodney said.

“Hey, Rodney.” John stopped in front of them. His cheek ached with the need to grin, but he kept his expression schooled in a cool half smile.

Radek looked back and forth between them, muttered something that sounded like, “Finally,” and moved over to the serving line, leaving John and Rodney alone in the crowded dining room.

John reached up and placed his hand along the back of Rodney’s neck.

Rodney balked. “Sheppard – John,” he whispered, “What are you doing?”

Anticipation hung in the air. John could feel it skittering along his skin. He knew every single eye in that room was on them, but he really didn’t care. There wasn’t anything anyone could to do him anymore. No more furtive trips down the hallways, avoiding the patrols. No more fudging the security cameras in Rodney’s lab. No more secret meetings or clandestine trysts in abandoned labs. He could do, out in the open, all the things he’d had to keep covert.

John pulled Rodney to him, and felt the collective intake of breath in the mess hall. “I’m setting a precedent,” he said, and slid his mouth over Rodney’s.

The kiss was one sided, Rodney shocked into stillness at first, then he shivered beneath John’s hand, and opened his mouth under John’s lips and then tongues were sliding against one another, and Rodney pressed himself into John’s body, letting his arms go around John’s waist. He curled his fists into John’s t-shirt, and squeezed John to him.

They kissed and kissed, twisting into it, trying to find the perfect angles, the perfect positions. It was bliss.

A dull roar surrounded them, eventually penetrating the bubble of privacy they’d formed, and John pulled away from Rodney, chuckling lightly at Rodney’s dazed expression.

“Come on, Rodney, let’s eat.”

If either of them noticed the exchange of goods and the disgruntled faces of those paying up, well, they didn’t comment on it.


End file.
